INSIDE THE NFL.

Bears could be cornered

Likely acquisition of Manning may lead team to draft LB first

A linebacker is looking like the Bears' most likely first-round pick, with cornerback and tight end on the back burner.

General manager Jerry Angelo said he is confident he can get help at all three positions in the top three or four rounds of the draft Saturday and Sunday.

He said he feels no urgency at any position because "we feel we have 22 players we can put out there and we can win."

The offer sheet to Ricky Manning Jr., the Carolina Panthers' restricted free-agent cornerback, is key. If the Panthers match it by the deadline Friday, then the Bears practically will be forced to select a cornerback to replace retired nickel back Jerry Azumah.

But the Panthers have signed free-agent corner Reggie Howard from Jacksonville and aren't expected to match the offer to Manning, which would cost the Bears their third-round draft choice in compensation.

Angelo never has drafted a defensive back or a tight end in a first round and there is enough draft depth at both positions to last into rounds two or three. Angelo also believes there is good draft depth at linebacker. The difference is neither starter on the outside, Lance Briggs nor Hunter Hillenmeyer, is signed beyond this season. Even if they were, the Bears were planning to address their linebacker depth.

If a player such as Alabama's DeMeco Ryans falls to the Bears' spot at No. 26, he might make more sense than any of the cornerbacks or tight ends. Ryans is ranked behind Ohio State's A.J. Hawk, Florida State's Ernie Sims and Iowa's Chad Greenway on the outside linebacker list. Some teams might prefer Ohio State's Bobby Carpenter, too, because the 6-foot-2-inch, 250-pound Carpenter is bigger than the 6-1, 235-pound Ryans.

But in Lovie Smith's defense, size ranks below speed and playmaking ability as the most important factors for the weak-side linebacker.

Angelo said the first successful undersized player at that position in this defense was Minnesota's Eddie McDaniel, a fifth-round draft choice in 1992. Under former Vikings defensive coordinator Floyd Peters, one of the fathers of the Cover-2 system, McDaniel flourished.

Even though Angelo is convinced he can find a good weak-side linebacker in the later rounds, as he found third-rounder Briggs in 2003, that position is more vital in the Bears' system than cornerback or tight end.

"We want to put the money up front. We want to pressure the quarterback," Angelo said. "We don't emphasize speed at the corner position maybe like some other teams, so the corners we look for we can get in the third and fourth round. But I wouldn't rule out a corner [in the first]."

A case could be made for an all-time Bears secondary of free agents Leslie Frazier and Rosey Taylor plus Miami 10th-round pick Gary Fencik and Detroit 24th-round pick Dave Whitsell, both later signed by the Bears. Fencik and Whitsell would be free agents in the current seven-round draft. Frazier and Fencik played on the 1985 champions and Taylor and Whitsell on the 1963 champions.

As for tight ends, Angelo said: "Blocking is very important to our offense. We want to run the football, and that tight end is a valuable player in terms of your running game. So we're not just looking at the receiving skills. That's what makes it a little tougher for us to find a tight end.

"Some teams will take the blocking out of the equation, so it's a little easier to find that person. But we're looking. It's a good group of tight ends. This might be one of the better classes in recent years. You can get a tight end of quality right down through the fourth round."

As good as the tight ends are, there may not be a great blocker among them.

Ralph warning

Despite reassurances from Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson continues to sound alarms over how as-yet undetermined revenue sharing will work in the new collective bargaining agreement.

Wilson is so convinced small-market teams like his own will lose money that he has enlisted help from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to turn up the public spotlight on a situation that could force the Bills to move.

Under the new CBA, an average of $150 million a year is supposed to be shifted from high-revenue to low-revenue teams, but most of the money is supposed to come from "new media" streams that are not yet stipulated.